The subject matter disclosed herein relates to gas turbine engines, and more specifically, to bucket cover plates.
In general, gas turbine engines combust a mixture of compressed air and fuel to produce hot combustion gases. The combustion gases may flow through one or more turbine stages to generate power for a load and/or a compressor. Each turbine stage may include multiple buckets with cover plates disposed circumferentially around a central rotor. Unfortunately, any bolts, screws, pins or other fasteners used to secure the cover plates to the buckets may be dropped into the gas turbine engine during maintenance. For example, certain maintenance procedures involve removing cover plates to access various components of the turbine. Such procedures generally include removing the fasteners that secure the cover plates to the buckets. Therefore, the more cover plate fasteners employed, the greater the possibility that these fasteners will be dropped into the turbine during or after removal. If fasteners fall into inaccessible areas of the turbine, further disassembly may be necessary to remove the parts, thereby delaying turbine operation and increasing maintenance costs.